Le volcan suspect (Aredit comic)
Le volcan suspect (The Suspicious Volcano) is the 13th issue in the King comics series. The series was published in French by publisher Aredit and featured mainly stories with Gimlet King as the main character. Le volcan suspect was published in November 1970. Synopsis This comic strip album contains several comic strip stories and articles. Only the first story is about characters created by W. E. Johns. This story occupies only the first 24 pages (out of a total of 130) and bears the same title as the album, Le volcan suspect. The rest of this article will be about this story only. Le volcan suspect is an adaptation of the Johns short story The Adventure of the Suspicious Volcano from Biggles - Charter Pilot. The characters of Biggles and his friends are replaced by Gimlet King, and Cub Peters. Dr Augustus Duck is replaced by a Dr Duck, sometimes referred to as "Donald". This is the same name as the original character in Biggles - Charter Pilot but he does not have the same eccentric mannerisms and style of dress. The cover artwork shows a man wearing a jetpack firing a pistol while airborne. This does not relate to any scene in the story. Plot (Click on expand to read) The story is a fairly faithful adaptation of the original with the following main differences: *The setting is clearly postwar. Copper Colson has set up his garage and has taken a holiday and visits Gimlet. When Copper complains of the heat, Gimlet suggests that he should try Mexico (exactly as Ginger does in the original). This is the preamble for Gimlet to narrate the rest of the story. *There are only three people in the party that went to explore the volcano. Gimlet pilots the plane. Cub Peters and Dr Duck form the rest of the group. *Gimlet catches El Cuchillo's messenger, just as Biggles did. But the way they get him to confess is different. In the original, Biggles threatens man with a knife saying he needs a shave. In the Gimlet version, it is the Dr Duck who makes the man talk! He has the man tied to a tree and positions a can of water above him. Drops of water fall from a hole in the can and hit the man somewhere on the foot. The doctor explains that the water drops, hitting nerves, creates an itch which gets worse and worse until the man can stand it no more and is willing to talk to get it to stop. *El Cuchillo's messenger is allowed to escape. In the original this is merely described in a few words. In this story it is described in detail over several pages: the prisoner steals the cell key from a sleeping guard and then grabs a horse to make good his escape. Characters *"Gimlet" King *Copper Colson *Cub Peters *Dr Donald Duck *El Cuchillo Aircraft *Twin engined, low wing aircraft generic executive aircraft, with a tailwheel. Places Visited *Mexico Research Notes References to the past Incongruities Chronology References Category:Derivative works